Refrigerator insulation drying arrangement



July 18, 1950 l. A. PHILIPP 2,515,892

Rammm'ron INSULATION :mms mmcnmm 1N VEN TOR.

Y Lawa-MRM July 13, 1950 l. A. PHILIPP 2,515,392

REF'RIGERATOR INSULATION DRYING ARRANGEIENT BY MLdn Hrramvcv PatentedJuly 18, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BEFILIGEBATOR Lawrence A.Philipp, Nash-Kelvinator INSULATION DRYI'NG ABRANGEMENT Detroit, Mich.,asignar to ration.

Detroit, Mich.,

a corporation of Maryland Application March 5, 1947. Serial No. 732,472l2 Claims. (Cl. 62-116) description, reference being panying drawings,wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front view of a refrigerator cabinet partlybroken away and in section, embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the refrigerator cabinet, takenalong the line 2 2 oi' Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical view of the refrigerating system.'

Fig. 4 is a. fragmentary horizontal sectional view of the cabinet, takenalong the line 4-4 oi' Figure l; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modified form oi refrigeratorcabinet.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeraldesignates, in general, a refrigerator cabinet having an inner liner 22and an outer casing 24. The casing 24 and the liner 22 are preferablymade of sheet metal mateupper cooling or food and a lower freezingcompartment 32. zontal partition 28 may be a shelf and may be removablysupported on pins 2! secured to the liner sides, the shelf preferablybeing slightly bottom wall or partition, as at 34, separates thefreezing compartment 32 from a machinery com- An inner door 44 isprovided to close the front of the freezing compartment 32, this door44, the shelf 28 and the liner of the freezing compartment door 44.

The refrigerator herein disclosed includes a pair of series connectedcooling elements or evaporators comprising, a relatively low temperatureice making evaporator 46 for the freezing comconduit 56. From theevaporator 48, refrigerant evaporator 46 through 5 This small diametertube 58 controls now of refrigerant iiowing to the evaporator 46 andmaintains a pressure differential between the two evaporators tomaintain the temperature in evaporator 48 above the temperature inevaporater 46. By this arrangement it is possible to operate evaporator48 above the freezing point of water and evaporator 46 therebelow.Evaporated refrigerant is withdrawn from the evaporator 4G to thecondensing unit through a return conduit 8B.

partment 32 or tion 28. ranged to extend along opposite sides and alongthe bottom of the liner 22, directly exposed to or in contact with theinsulation 26. Similarly. the relatively high temperature evaporator 48,which is also preferably a sinuous coil or conduit, is secured to theouter surface of the portion of the liner forming thecooling compartmentor the system that portion of the liner above the partition 2B. Thisrelatively high temperature evaporator I is preferably arranged toextend along the sides and back of the liner 22 and is directly exposedto or is in contact with the insulation 26. These evaporators IB and I8respectively cool the freezing compartment 32 and the food storagecompartment 20 by absorbing heat therefrom through the wall of the metalliner 22. Ice trays placed in the freezing compartment $2 on the bottomwall of the metal liner 22.

Between the bottom wall of the liner 22 and the insulation of thehorizontal wall or partition Il, I provide a moisture receiver 02 toreceive moisture from and liner when is the liner 22, water may drainfrom the freezing compartment I2 into the receiver 62 therebelow. Fromthe moisture receiver 62 a passage or drain pipe B6 the horizontal wall04 empties the vegetable bln l2. The to provide a trap to retain watertherein, ing the pipe to flow air therethrough.

The moisture receiver 02, in the form of a liner member, extends beyondthe side and rear walls oi' the liner 22 and is provided with anupturned flange 10. This flange 10 extends around the side and rearedges of the receiver 02, outwardly of the evaporator coil I6 so as tocatch the drip from the evaporators, as well as, from the liner 22. Atthe front of the freezing compartment 32, the moisture receiver B2 isprovided with an angular disposed marginal portion 12 extending upwardlyand outwardly beyond the front edge of the liner 22 to catch the driptherefrom. The moisture receiver 62 may have an extended front portion'Il bent down against a front facing strip 16 of the cabinet horizontalwall or partition 48.

The flange of the moisture receiver 82 being located beyond or outwardlyof the side and rear walls of the liner 22 provides communication, as at00, between the space below the liner bottom wall and the space betweenthe inner liner 22 and outer casing 24. In `refrigerators of the typeherein disclosed wherein liner cooling is employed there is a tendencyfor moisture to collect on the refrigerator evaporators positionedbetween the inner liner and outer casing and on the exterior surface ofthe liner. In the present arrangement this moisture will be induced tomove by diffusion downwardly through the insulation into the spacebeneath the bottom of the liner 22 where the moisture will contact thelow temperature evaporator 46 and be frozen out thereon. This movementof water vapor is aided by the provision of spaced passageways orchannels extending upwardly along the rear wall of the liner, thepassages or channels being in open communication with each other betweenthe runs of the coil 48. These passageways Il, extending transversely ofthe high temperature coil It and the low temperature evaporator coilestablish open communication between the two evaporators and lead intothe space beneath the low temperature evaporator Thus, any moisturewhich may have found its way into the space between the inner liner andthe outer casing will be removed therefrom and deposited on the lowtemperature evaporator 40 for eventual removal with the defrost waterwhen the system is shut down.

Referring new to my modified form of refrig- 4 erator shown in Figure 5,the numeral l0, designates in general, a cabinet having an outer metalcasing 00, an upper liner 92 and a lower liner B4. Insulation $6 isprovided between the liners and the outer casing and is also interposed,as at B0, between the bottom wall of the upper liner B2 and the top wallof the lower liner el. The upper liner 92 forms a cooling or foodstorage compartment |00 and the lower liner forms a freezlng compartment|02. These compartments are closed at the front of the cabinet by anaccess door |04. An inner door |06 is provided for the front of thefreezing compartment |02, this door |02 and the lower liner 94cooperating to provide a high humidity compartment. Below the freezingcompartment |02, the cabinet is provided with a machine compartment |08in which is located a motor-compressor unit ||0. An access door H3closes the front of the machine compartment |08 and may carry a storagebin IIS to which a drip pan ||1 is preferably secured.

A relatively high temperature evaporator lil, preferably a sinuous coilor conduit is provided for cooling the food storage compartment |00 anda relatively low temperature evaporator IIB, preferably a sinuous coilor conduit is provided to cool the freezing compartment |02. Theseevaporators lili, IIB are arranged respectively in engagement with theouter surfaces of the liners 92, 9| extending along the rear, top andbottom walls thereof. the previously described refrigerator system, theevaporators Hl, ||6 are operatively connected together in series. Thesystem including the evaporator-s H4, H6 differs from the system ofFigure 3 in that the condenser coil, as at il! is arranged against theinner surface of the casing rear wall, utilizing the outer metal casingto aid in dissipating the heat of condensation.

Passageways ila are provided in the insulation 96 extending along thetop, rear and bottom walls of the upper liner 92 transversely of thesinuous evaporator coil IH. Similarly, passageways |20 are provided inthe insulation 9B extending along the top and rear walls of the lowerliner 94, transversely of the sinuous evaporator coils. Thesepassageways respectively establish communication between the spacebetween adjacent coils of the sinuous evaporators III, ||6 and are incommunication through a passage |22 in the insulation between the upperand lower liners. A tube |24 may be provided in the insulation betweenliners to form the passage |22. Also, in this insulation between liners,I provide a partition or alr baille |20 extending through the insulatingbetween the inner surfaces of the rear and side walls of the outercasing 90. This baille |26 prevents any moisture laden air in theinsulation thereabove between liners from moving downwardly directlyonto and freezing out: on the top wall of the lower liner DI, flow ofmoisture laden alr to theI relatively low temperature evaporator beingrestricted to passage |22 to the sides and rear of the liner B4 andevaporator H6. At its front edge the baille |28 abuts a strip oi' thecabinet, held in place by outer flanged edges |30 of the upper and lowerliners.

Below the bottom wall of the freezing compartment liner el, in spacedrelation to the evaporator coil |16, I provide a moisture or dripreceiver |32 to catch moisture dripping from the evaporators and fromthe freezing compartment liner when the system is defrosting. This dripLike the evaporators of |28 extending across the front receiver |82 alsoserves as a liner member for the insulated partition or horizontal wall,as at |84 between the freezing compartment liner $4 and the machinecompartment |08. 'Ihe drip receiver |22 extends outwardly of theevaporator coil ||6 so as to catch the drip therefrom, as well as fromthe liner 84, the receiver having an upturned flange |34 extending alongthe side and rear edges thereof. Through the partition |24 extends adrain pipe III arranged to empty into the drip pan |I`| on the storagebin I IB. The upper end of the drain pipe |38 may be securedin a valveseat member |40 which in turn is secured in and to the bottom wall ofthe drip receiver |32. The valve seat member |40 has a drain port |4|closable by a valve |42 provided to close the drain pipe |28 to flow ofair therethrough. The valve member |42 has a stem extending upwardlythrough an aperture or drain port |44 in the bottom of the liner 94 sothat access may be had through the food storage compartment door openingto the valve for operation thereof. n the valve stem, in the freezingcompartment |32, I provide a valve member |45 to close the drain port|44. When the valve member is lifted, it will be seen that both drainports are open to drain moisture from within the liner into th dripreceiver and to drain moisture from the drip receiver through drain pipe|38 into the drip pan ||1. When the valves are closed air is preventedfrom flowing from the freezing compartment into the -space therebeneaththrough port |44.

In the above described modified form of my refrigerator any moisturewhich may tend to collect in the insulation around the food storagecompartment liner 82 will be caused to move by diffusion downwardlythrough passageways lil and |22 to freeze out on the relatively lowtemperature evaporator I I6 and on the outer surface of the liner 94. Aspreviously mentioned, air in the insulation immediately below the bottomwall of the food storage compartment will be prevented from passingdirectly downwardly to the evaporator IIB because of the provision ofthe partition or separator strip |28. This prevents excessiveaccumulation of frost on the upper surface of liner 94 which if allowedto accumulate might deform the liner and walls of the cabinet. Instead,the moisture laden air is induced to flow through passage |22 into thepassageways |20 and freeze out on the side and rear walls of the lowerliner 84. By reason of this construction, moisture throughout thecabinet walls around the food storage compartment, as well as, belowsaid compartment is induced to concentrate and collect as frost on lowersurfaces of the evaporator H6 and lower liner 94 for removal ondefrosting into the receiver |32 whence the frost water drains throughthe drain pipe |38 into the drip pan Hl.

From the foregoing description, it will be noted that I have providednew and improved refrigerators in which air flow in the insulation iscontrolled so that moisture will be directed to freeze out on the lowtemperature evaporator for removal upon defrosting of the system. Inthis connection it will `he noted that the moisture is induced to moveto lower surfaces and portions of the freezing compartment liner andevaporator to in general keep the insulation dry throughout the cabinet.In addition, I have provided a drip receiver arranged within the cabinetcasing but externally of the liner in such a manner as to protect theinsulation from being wetted when defrosting the system.

6 Although only a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated,and that form described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilledin the art that various modincations may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of theappended claims.

I claim: l. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, a cabinet having inner 4vide an upper food storage compartment and a lower ice freezingcompartment. a relatively high temperature refrigerantevaporator.secured to the exterior surface of sheet material adjacentsaid food storage compartment. a relatively low temperature refrigerantevaporator secured to the exterior surface of said sheet materialadjacent said ice freezing compartment, heat insulation positionedadjacent said evaporators, said insulation being provided with a passageto establish a. communicating path for flow of moisture laden air fromone evaporator to the other, a frost collecting space immediatelybeneath said relativelyr low temperature evaporator in opencommunication with said passage, and a drip receiver positionedimmediately below the relatively low temperature evaporator forming awall of said frost collecting space.

2. Refrigeratlng apparatus comprising, an outer casing, metal linermeans forming walls of an upper cooling compartment and a lower freezingcompartment, a. partition between said compartments, insulationinterposed between said outer casing and said liner means, saidinsulation being spaced from and below said liner means of said freezingcompartment. a relatively high temperature coil evaporator engaging theouter surface of said liner means above said partition to cool saidcooling compartment, a relatively low temperature coil evaporatorengaging the outer surface of said liner means below said partition tocool said freezing compartment. condensing means operatively connectedto said evaporators. a moisture receiver disposed in the space betweenthe bottom of said freezing compartment and said insulation therebeneathand extending outwardly beyond the relatively low temperatureevaporator, and passages in the insulation establishing a communicationpath between evaporators and leading therefrom downwardly into theextended portion of said moisture receiver.

3. Refrigerating apparatus comprising. an outer casing, an inner liner,heat insulation between the outer casing and the liner and being spacedfrom the bottom wall of the liner, a partition dividing the interior ofthe liner into an upper cooling compartment and a lower freezingcompartment, a refrigerant evaporator in engagement with the outersurface of the liner above said partition, a second refrigerantevaporator in engagement with the outer surface of the liner below saidpartition, a moisture receiver in the space between the bottom of theliner and the heat insulation extending immediately beneath the lowerrefrigerant evaporator to receive water drip therefrom, and passagewaysin the insulation establishing communication between the evaporators andalso communicating with the moisture receiver.

4. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, an outer casing, a liner,insulation between the outer casing and the inner liner, the insulationbeing spaced from the bottom wall of the liner, a partition extendingbetween opposite sides of the liner dividing the interior thereof intoan upper sheet material formed to procooling compartment and a lowerfreezing compartment, a relatively high temperature evaporator coilengaging the outer surface of the liner above the partition, arelatively low temperature evaporator coil engaging the outer surface ofthe liner below the partition, passageways in the insulation arranged toestablish a communication path between the evaporators to allow forwater vapor diffusion in air from the moisture collected on therelatively high temperature evaporator to flow to the relatively lowtemperature evaporator, and a moisture receiver in the space between thebottom wall of the liner and the insulation in open communication withthe passageways.

5. Refrlgerating apparatus comprising, an outer casing, a liner,insulation between the casing and the liner, a partition dividing theinterior of the liner into an upper cooling compartment and a lowerfreezing compartment, a relatively high temperature evaporator inengagement with the outer surface of the liner portion of the coolingcompartment, a relatively low temperature evaporator in engagement withthe outer surface of the liner portion of the freezing compartment, apassage in said insulation connecting said evaporators for flow of watervapor to the freezing evaporator a partition spaced from and `below thebottom wall of the liner to receive water upon defrosting of the system,a partition spaced from and below said bottom wall partition forming thetop wall of a third compartment, insulation between said second andthird partitions, a compressor-condenser unit in said third compartmentoperatively connected to the relatively low temperature evaporator andto the relatively high temperature evaporator, a drip pan in said thirdcompartment. and a passage through said second and third partitions andthrough the insulation therebetween arranged to direct water into saiddrip pan.

6. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, an outer casing, a liner,insulation between the outer casing and the liner. a partition dividingthe interior oi the liner into an upper cooling compartment and a lowerfreezing compartment, a relatively high temperature evaporator engagingthe outer surface of the liner portion of the cooling compartment, arelatively low temperature evaporator engaging the outer surface of thebottom wail liner portion of the freezing cornpartment, a partitionspaced below the relatively low temperature evaporator allowingclearance for forming of ice thereon, the partition extending outwardlybeyond the sides of the liner to receive defrost water and forming thetop wall of a third compartment, a passageway in the insulationestablishing a communication path between said eva-porators to allow forwater vapor diffusion in air from the moisture collected on therelatively high temperature evaporator to ilow to the relatively lowtemperature evaporator and communicating with the space between thebottom of a drain aperture in the bottom wall of the liner for passageof water from the interior thereof to said second-named partition, acompressorcondenser unit in said third compartment operatively connectedto said evaporators, a drip pan in said third-named compartment, and apassage through said second-named partition arranged to drain water intosaid drip pan.

'1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, an outer metal casing, an innermetal liner, insulation interposed between the casing and the liner,

ift

the liner and said second-named partition,

the insulation being spaced from the bottom of the liner to provide afrost collection space, a liner member in the space having an upturnedflange extending laterally outwardly beyond the liner, a partitiondividing the space within the liner into an upper cooling compartmentand a lower freezing compartment, a relatively high temperatureevaporator engaging the outer surface oi the liner above the partition,a relatively low temperature evaporator engaging the outer surface oithe liner below the partition inwardly of the liner member upturnedflange, and passageways in the insulation establishing communicationbetween the evaporators and the frost collection space beneath thebottom of the liner member.

8. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, a cabinet having an outer casing,an inner upper liner forming walls of a food storage compartment, aninner lower liner forming walls of an ice making compartment, insulationsurrounding said compartments, heat absorbing means secured to exteriorsurfaces of said liners, a passage between said liners and said casing,a separator between said evaporators having an opening positioned incommunication with said passage to allow flow of air in said insulationfrom adjacent one evaporator to the other evaporator, and a dripreceiver positioned below said lower liner in open communication withsaid passage.

9. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, an outer casing, an upper foodstorage compartment metal liner and a lower freezing compartment metalliner having a bottom wall, insulation between said liners and betweensaid liners and the outer casing, a relatively high temperatureevaporator arranged in engagement with the outer surface of the foodstorage compartment liner, a relatively low temperature evaporatorarranged in engagement with the outer surface of the freezingcompartment liner, a refrigerant compressor and a refrigerant condenseroperatively connected togethervand to the evaporators, said insulationbeing spaced from and below the bottom wall of said freezing compartmentliner, a moisture receiver in the space between the bottom wall of saidfreezing compartment liner and said insulation extending outwardly toreceive the drip from the relatively low temperature evaporator, avertical air passageway in the insulation extending between said linersand communicating with said receiver, a horizontal passageway extendingbetween said liners communieating with said vertical passageway, an airbaule partition in the insulation between said liners extendingsubstantially to the inner surface of said outer casing, and an aperturethrough said partition establishing communication between said verticaland horizontal passageways substantially at the junction thereof.

10. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, an outer casing, a food storagecompartment metal liner having top and bottom walls, a freezingcompartment metal liner spaced below the food storage compartment linerand having top and bottom walls, insulation disposed between the linersand the outer casing and between the bottom wall of the food storagecompartment liner and the top wall of the freezing compartment liner,the freezing compartment liner having its bottom wall spaced from theinsulation therebelow, a moisture receiver disposed in said space belowthe bottom wall of the freezing compart ment liner in spaced relationthereto, a relatively high temperature sinuous evaporator ar ranged inengagement with the outer surfaces of the food storage compartment linerincluding the top and bottom walls thereof, a relatively low temperaturesinuous evaporator arranged in engagement with the outer surfaces of thefreezing compartment liner including the top and bo*- tom walls thereof,a refrigerant compressor and a refrigerant condenser operativelyconnected together and to said evaporators, a passageway in theinsulation establishing a communicating path between evaporators formovement of moisture by diffusion toward the relatively low temperatureevaporator, passageways in the insulation extending along the top andbottom of the food storage compartment liner transversely oi' thesinuous relatively high temperature evaporator and communicating withsaid first passageway, a passageway in the insulation betweenevaporators extending along the top wall of the freezing compartmentliner transversely of the sinuous relatively low temperature evaporatorand communicating with said first passageway, an air baffle in theinsulation between said liners extending substantially to the innersurfaces of said outer casing and a passage through said baffleregistering with said first-named passageway.

l1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, a cabinet having inner sheetmaterial formed to provide an upper food storage compartment and a lowerice freezing compartment, a relatively high temperature refrigerantevaporator secured to the exterior surface of said sheet materialadjacent said food storage compartment, a relatively low temperaturerefrigerant evaporator secured to the exterior surface of said sheetmetal material adjacent said ice freezing compartment, insulationpositioned adjacent said evaporators, said insulation being providedwith a passage to establish a communicating path for the flow of lll airfrom one evaporator to the other, a drip receiver disposed below therelatively low temperature evaporator between the evaporator and saidinsulation, a drain port in the sheet metal material to drain moistureinto the drip receiver, and a manually operable valve to close saidport.

i2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, a cabinet having inner sheetmaterial formed to provide an upper food storage compartment and a.lower ice freezing compartment, a relatively high temperaturerefrigerant evaporator secured to the exterior surface of said sheetmaterial adjacent said food storage compartment, a. relatively lowtemperature refrigerant evaporator secured to the exterior surface ofsaid sheet metal material adjacent said ice freezing compartment,insulation positioned adjacent said evaporators. said insulation beingprovided with a passage to establish a communicating path for the flowof air from one evaporator to the other, a drip receiver in said pathbelow said relatively low temperature evaporator, a drain port in thesheet metal material to drain moisture into the drip receiver, a drainport in the drip receiver, valve means to close said ports, and manuallyOperable means in the freezing compartment operable to actuate saidvalve means.

LAWRENCE A. PHILIP?.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,726,344 Davenport Aug. 27, 19292,133,951 Ashbaugh Oct. 25. 1938 2,167,442 Alsing July 25. 19392,309,533 Philipp Jan. 26, 1943 2,310,117 Reeves Feb. 2, 1943 2,411,461Philipp Nov. 19, 1946

